Ore-concentrating machine.



N.326. .,|99. o 6 8, 7 T- s. RIDGE. Patented Dec 5 8 ORE CONCENTRATING MACHINE.

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T. s. RIDGE.

ORE CONGENTRATING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 17, 1899.) v

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Wilnesses 51% TATES PATENT ORE-CONCENTRATING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,276, dated December 5, 1899.

Application filed April 17, 1899.

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS S. RIDGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ore-Concentrating Machines, of which .the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ore-concentrating machines; and it consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be herein-after described and claimed.

The object of the invention is to produce an ore-concentrating machine or apparatus by which the force or power of the ore-laden water is utilized to operate the rotary distributer and sweeps or packers.

Other objects will hereinafter appear, and in order that the invention may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a top plan View of an ore-concentrating machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents an enlarged plan View of part of the machine. Fig. 3 represents a section taken on the line III III of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: represents a sectional perspective View of a motor or wheel, which imparts motion caused by the force or power of the ore-laden water to the shaft carrying the conical distributer and the sweeps. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section, broken away, of part of the circular Vat toreceive the materials which drop off the table. Fig. 6 is a sectional View showing the stepejoint between the base-plates of the concentration-vat.

In the said drawings, 1 designates a framework of any suitable or preferred construction, and 2 a vertical shaft arranged centrally of the framework and journaled at its upper and lower ends, respectively, in the bearings 3 and 4:, which may be of the type shown, or the shaft may be mounted on ball-bearings in the usual or any preferred manner. Keyed or otherwise secured upon said shaft at a suitable point is a motor or power-wheel 5, which wheel or motor consists of the hub portion 6, the rim or casing 7, and the spokes or flukes 8, connecting the hub and the rim or casing and extending in a spiral direction by preference, the twist of the spokes or flukes being preferably sufficient to bring the lower end 'with those of the inner cylinder.

Serial a. 713,419. (No model.)

of the ore-laden water upon the spokes or fiukes as they are successively presented causes the motor or wheel to revolve in the direction indicated by the'arrow, Figs. 1 and 4, with a proportionate speed, as will be readily understood. The shaft 2 also carries, by preference, a belt-pulley 9, to which an engine or counter-shaft belt (not shown) may extend, to assist the wheel or motor 5 in driving the shaft when the power imparted by the ore-laden water is deemed insufficient to rotate the shaft at the desired speed.

The motor or wheel 5 is surmounted by a stationary head 10, supported in any suitable manner and provided at one side with an opening 11,into which projects the lower end of the flume 12.

In practice to facilitate the operation as much as possible the parts thus far described will be in duplicate, with the upper ends of the fiumes 12 diverging and sloping downward at a suitable angle from the feed-hopper 13, the contents of the hopper being deflected onto one fiume or the other by means of a valve 14, which is pivoted at the junction of said flumes and is adapted to cutoff communication of either of them with the hopper.

Journaled in bearings 16. secured to a part of the framework, as shown in Fig. l, or any other suitable support, is a shaft 17, upon which is mounted a rotary separator, comprising an inner foraminous cylinder 18 and an outer foraminous cylinder 19, the interstices of the latter being fine as compared The outer cylinder terminates short of the front or lower end of cylinder 19 in order to deliver ore too coarse to pass through it into the sluicebox 20, and arranged forward of said sluicebox 20 is a second sluice-box 21 to receive the discharge of ore too coarse to pass through the inner cylinder. The sluice-boxes 20 and 21 are interposed between the foraniinous separating-cylinders and the hopper 13, near the upper end of the latter, so that the very fine ore and free gold, which is sifted through both cylinders, will drop down into the hopper and be discharged with the water passing therethrough into one or the other of the motors or wheels 5, hereinbefore described, it being understood, of course, that the ore as it comes from the stamp-mill, placer-diggings, or other supply is discharged into the upper end of the inner or coarse. cylinder of the chute 22. Rotary movement is imparted to the supporting-cylinder by preference by a belt (not shown) connected to the belt-wheel 23 upon one end of the shaft 17 of said cylinder. Secured upon the shaft 2 at a suitable point below the motor or wheel 5 is a conical distributing-disk 24, of copper or covered with copper, and secured concentrically upon the upper surface of said distributing-disk is a series of mercury-holding or amalgam rings 25, these rings being designed to catch and hold a large part of the free gold which is discharged upon this distributing-disk. 26 designates a number of arms projecting radially outward of said disk and carrying pendent sweeps 27, of heavy canvas or equivalent material, these wings or sweeps being preferably arranged at different distances from their center of motion, so as to move in overlapping circles or paths. (See Fig. l.) The function of these sweeps is hereinafter explained.

23 designates a circular amalgam-table, which slopes slightly downward from its inner to its outer edge and is supported in any suitable manner with its inner edge overlapped by the outer edge of the distributingdisk and provided with a concentrically-sur-' rounding check-rail 29, said check-rail projecting slightly above the plane of the outer edge of the table and supported slightly outward of said edge by a series of angle-brackets 30, to provide a narrow passage 31, through which the water, ore, and free gold maydrop vertically down into the annular vat 31, said vat consisting of a circular inner wall 32, a circular outer wall 33, provided with a series of drain-cocks 34 at different altitudes, and a bottom consisting of sections 35, said sections being pivoted at their inner ends, as at 36, to standards 37, suitably erected, and resting at their outer ends upon the eccentric disks 38, carried by brackets 39, secured to standards 40. These disks are by preference provided with handles 41, and in practice are adapted to be simultaneously operated, so as to correspondingly raise or lower the outer ends of the bottom sections 35, for

a purpose which will be hereinafter explained, and in order to secure said sections at the desired altitude the eccentric disks are provided with a series of holes 41, through one or the other of which the pins 42, carried by brackets 39, are adapted to extend. (See Fig. 5.) The pivoted or inner ends of the bottom sections 35 occupying a higher plane than the outer ends of said sections, it is obvious that as the latter are raised the sections are forced into closer relation and that as they are lowered they move slightly apart. In a full-size machine, however, the adjustment of the bottom sections 35 is so slight as compared with their size that the movement of said sections toward or from each other as they move upward or downward is hardly perceptible; butin order to make the joints between them as snug as possible and prevent the water contained in the vat from leaking through the bottom they are stepjointed together, as shown at 43, and have strips of rubber or equivalent substance 44 interposed between them, this strip yielding under the edgewise pressure of the sections as they are raised and expanding as they are lowered, so as to always provide atight joint.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the ore-laden water after it passes through the motor or wheel 5, and thereby imparts rotary movement to the shaft 2 and the parts carried thereby, strikes the apex of the-disk 24 and is evenly distributed, together with the ore carried thereby, over the distributer and from the latter falls and flows downward and outward upon the table 28, the checkrail 31 interrupting its flow and causing the water and ore borne thereby to drop vertically down into the vat 31, the check-rail, by thus checking the momentum of the ore, causing it to pile up on the vat near the inner wall of the latter, the heavy particles remaining near the wall and the lighter particles being carried by the water farther outward, the sand as it accumulates outward of the mixed ore and sand causing the water to bank up against the outer wall, as shown at Ct, beyond the path of the sweeps. In the drawings, to illustrate this idea, the sand is represented by the letter i), the mixed sand and ore by the letter 0, and the heavy concentrated ore and free gold which escapes from the amalgamator by the letter 01, it being understood, of course, that in practice,while this order or arrangement will be carried out, the distinctions between the different grades will not be so marked as indicated in the drawings.

In the practical operation of the machine the drain-cocks 34 are opened more or less, as required, to the end that water shall not accumulate in the vat too rapidly in proportion to the quantity of ore and gold, and when the proportion of ore and gold has attained a certain ratio the lower drain-cock may be closed, because the water will then accumulate more rapidly than the ore, this accumulation being arrested as the water reaches the next drain-cock above the one that was closed. Through this cook the water drains until the required proportion of ore is again attained, when it is closed to permit the water to accumulate again, and so on. The manipulations of these drain-cocks of course will be controlled according to the relative volume of water and ore or the condition of the latter.

As the water and ore are discharged into and accumulate in the vat the freegold escaping from the distributer or amalgamator and, with the heavier ore, bedding itself in the vat close to the inner Wall, the lighter or mixed ore being carried by the outwardly-flowing water outward of the free gold and heavy ore and the sand or silica still farther outward, the latter, with the water, is intercepted by the sweeps 20, which follow each other in rapid succession and, describing circles of varying diameters, pack the sand down upon the bottom of the vat, this sand accumulating in the operation of the machine until it ultimately may bank the water substantially as indicated in Fig. 3. When one of these vats is filled in the required degree, the valve 14 is manipulated to deflect the ore-laden water into the companion flume 12, said flume conducting the same through the companion motor or wheel 5, which dischargesit into its respective distributing-disk 25, from which it passes over the table 28 intoa vat similar in all respects to the one described and correspondingly numbered. While this vatis being filled, the operator drains olf the water from the first-named vat and discharging the waste sand transfers the mixedore (and the concentrates, if necessary) to the hopper 45, from which it is conveyed by a flume 46 through a second motor or wheel, which it operates in the manner hereinbefore explained. Associated with this second motor or wheel is companion mechanism of precisely the same construction as that hereinbefore described, except that it is built, by preference, on a smaller scale, as shown at 47. After the water is drained from the vat of this smaller mechanism the concentrates are transferred to a furnace or drier 48 of the usual or any preferred construction.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced an ore-concentrator which can be operated at a minimum expense by embodying a construction which utilizes the force or power of the material treated to cause the operation of the machine and because the ore can be removed at any time without interrupting the continuous op eration of the machine.

It will further be seen that I have produced a concentrator of= comparatively simple and inexpensive construction and one by,which the quantity of ore concentrated as compared with the volume of water used to insure its continuous movement through the machine may be regulated by the adjustment of the bottom of the vat and, furthermore, one by which all of the free gold and mineral-bearing ore is saved.

Having thus described the invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An ore-concentrating machine, compris ing a shaft, a motor or wheel mounted thereon, embracing a rim or casing and spiral spokes or flukes extending inward of said rim or casin g, a stationary hood su rmountin g said wheel and provided with an opening to receive the ore-laden water, a vat, an annular table arranged above the inner edge of the vat, a check-rail surrounding and projecting slightly above the outer edge of said table and a slight distance therefrom, and a conical distributing-diskamalgamator mounted upon the shaft below said motor or wheel, substantially as described.

2. An ore-concentrating machine, comprising a shaft, a motor or wheel mounted thereon, an inclined valve-controlled flume communicating with the upper end of said motor or wheel, a circular vat provided with faucets or cocks at different altitudes, a distributing disk amalgamator 24, secured to said shaft below the motor or wheel, a circular table projecting inward from the inner wall of the vat and having its inner edge overlapped by said disk amalgamator, brackets secured to the vat, a check-rail 29 carried by said brackets, and sweeps 27 operating in the vat and secured to the distributing-disk amalgamator, substantially as described.

3. In an ore-concentrating machine, a vat comprising an inner wall, an outer wall provided with drain-cocks, and a pivoted bottom connecting the lower ends of said walls, said bottom being constructed in sections, lap-j ointed together, and containing resilient strips between their opposing edges, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS S. RIDGE. Witnesses:

M. R. REMLEY, H. O. RODGERS. 

